Camaro's axle to be produced in GM's Mexican assembly plant.

[Bruno]

No big news, just a bit of info on the manufacturering origin of the Camaro's axle

_____________________
http://www.workforce.com/section/00/.../25/42/53.html

March 17, 2008
UAW Seeks Job Guarantees to End Strike at American Axle
The United Auto Workers is demanding job guarantees from American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. to end a 3-week-old strike.
General Motors has contracted hundreds of millions of dollars of new business annually with American Axle. The union wants those axles and other parts built in UAW-represented U.S. plants, not in Mexico, said a source close to the situation.

The union demanded similar new-work commitments to end strikes at GM and Ford Motor Co. last fall during master contract negotiations.

The job guarantees are needed to salve the pain of concessions the UAW must make at American Axle to bring wages and benefits more in line with the axle maker’s competitors, said Dave Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research think tank in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“Plant investment is the quid pro quo,” he said.

American Axle CEO Richard E. Dauch is demanding that the 3,600 striking workers agree to cuts that would halve wages to about $14 an hour. That is the average wage paid by rival Dana Holding Corp.

The union is rightfully nervous that American Axle will move future GM work to its Mexican operations if progress isn’t made, Cole said.

Union sources say that is happening with axles that American Axle will supply for the redesigned 2009 Chevrolet Camaro. American Axle plans to ship Camaro axles almost 2,000 miles from its plant in Guanajuato, Mexico, to GM’s assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, they say.

“We’re not saying we are moving to Mexico,” American Axle spokeswoman Renee Rogers said. But without a U.S. cost-competitive wage structure, she warned, new programs could go to American Axle plants with a lower wage and benefit structure than the five company factories now on strike.

In addition to its Mexican plant, American Axle has four U.S. plants with a different, lower-compensation UAW contract that are not on strike.

Last year, American Axle idled a Buffalo, New York, plant that had expected to get the Camaro work. That plant is about 130 miles from Oshawa.

American Axle supplies axles for all GM pickups and SUVs built in North America.

The strike has idled seven GM assembly plants and hampered production at 22 other GM parts plants. It also has halted production of the Chevy Silverado and other light trucks.

[bouncertime]

Sounds like the Union better start compromising before they lose more jobs to Mexico.

[munkee drummer]

Without getting into all the stuff about Unions and such. My only comment is it's sad they can produce them in Mexico and ship them to Canada, 3000 miles away cheaper than they can make them 130 miles away. Cheap mexican labor. I guess.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Last year, American Axle idled a Buffalo, New York, plant that had expected to get the Camaro work. That plant is about 130 miles from Oshawa.

That's the only reason I have heard about this before...Big, front page article with a picture of the red fiberglass in our local paper about a year ago...kinda ticked me off a little...but I survived.

[Bruno]

update on the strike:

The five week-old strike at American Axle is finally starting to wear on GM, and the General has decided to move a small but crucial parts contract over to rival supplier Dana to help get its truck plants moving again. The 30,000-unit prop shaft contract for light pickups is considered a small deal, but the fact that GM is beginning to move on shows that the strike, which began on February 26, is beginning to take its toll on the giant automaker. The move is going to anger the striking workers, but it will also likely help get American Axle management back at the bargaining table.

Recent events show that still more GM plants are being hurt by the strike, as the plant that builds the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS was shut down last Friday, and Automotive News reports the Chevy Cobalt plant could idle this week. Perhaps the biggest news of all is that GM is running out of rear suspension knuckles for the hot-selling Chevy Malibu. Since the General is in the middle of a mega-million dollar ad push for the North American Car of the Year, we're guessing a work stoppage at the Orion, MI plant won't be taken lightly. This ever-lengthening strike may have started out as a non-story, but lost production on a grand scale of some of GM's most profitable products will hurt GM, American Axle, and its 3,600 workers in the long run.

- Automotive News

[Mr. Wyndham]

This whole situation, now I'm not talking Union workers v. Management or anything, but the general American Axle + General Motors Environment is a crap-shoot. It's way too volatile, and I think GM would do good to start expanding it's supplier base, rather than have ONE company make 90% of all your parts. If they go down, so does GM.........

[GTAHVIT]

^ agreed, More vendors is always better, you get healthy competition and a better product in most cases.

I don't like putting all eggs in one basket I.E. Unions.

[DGthe3]

Don't you just love NAFTA? It helps the economy by making it cheaper to import goods. The fact that people lose their jobs in the process is irrelevent.

[GTAHVIT]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Don't you just love NAFTA? It helps the economy by making it cheaper to import goods. The fact that people lose their jobs in the process is irrelevent.

Confused.

Can you send me to a source so I can learn more about this?

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by gtahvit

Confused.

Can you send me to a source so I can learn more about this?

wiki's as good as any http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_A...rade_Agreement

The North American Free Trade Agreement was set in place to allow for . . . free trade in north america. Before NAFTA trade tariffs (basically taxes on imports) protected local industries. For example, the old system helped things like forrestry operations in washington state against the cheap import of lumber from british columbia. Mexican farmers could supply mexico with food. It was all about self sufficiency.

However, most of that gets thrown out the window with NAFTA. NAFTA makes it less expensive to import things. a lot of manufacturing went south to mexico. The general consensus is that Mexico came out on top because they got lots of jobs. The people in Corporate America won too, because mexico is cheap. Blue collar workers in Canada and the US lost because of the transfer of jobs to Mexico. Thats the jist of it.

[GTAHVIT]

Got it.

This opened the door for all the outsourcing over the last few years?

[usmc320]

Originally Posted by Bruno

American Axle CEO Richard E. Dauch is demanding that the 3,600 striking workers agree to cuts that would halve wages to about $14 an hour.

You've got to feel for the workers on strike, though. How many people would not be wrought with financial problems if their job suddenly cut their income in half? There goes your house, etc., because you can't make the mortgage payment anymore. It's not their fault they get paid so much more than the competitor's company. The company agreed to it.

[MattG]

Originally Posted by usmc320

You've got to feel for the workers on strike, though. How many people would not be wrought with financial problems if their job suddenly cut their income in half? There goes your house, etc., because you can't make the mortgage payment anymore. It's not their fault they get paid so much more than the competitor's company. The company agreed to it.

A 50% cut is certainly rough, but unless you can find another job right away, it's better than losing your job completely. The workers always have the ability to vote with their feet.

[usmc320]

You're right, but if I were them I would still fight the company for awhile instead of just letting it happen. That's how people end up getting taken advantage of. It was probably stupid of them to strike. They should always try to negotiate as much as possible before even considering a strike, but too late for that now.